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I am not alone in being a memoir junkie. The autobiography is the hottest genre in
print, and the memoir-made-into-film has the capacity to reach an even wider audience.
Upcoming best-selling memoirs adapted for cinemas include Frank McCourt's Angela's
Ashes and Mary Karr's The Liar's Club. Previously, Tobias Wolff's successful memoir
was made into This Boy's Life starring Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio and
Janet Frame's autobiographical trilogy was filmed as An Angel at My Table by Jane
Campion. Something each of these memoirs has in common is that they are memoirs of
childhood or adolescence. They function as contemporary coming-of-age-stories. Their
appeal lies in what they can tell us about an experience that is paradoxically, both
unique and yet familiar or universal.
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Girl, Interrupted is based on Susanna Kaysen's 1993 memoir of the same name. It
relates Kaysen's experience of her detainment in a mental institution in the late 1960s
and her being diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. In the film version
Kaysen is played by Winona Ryder, which presents Ryder with another opportunity to
portray a misunderstood 'everygirl', a nonconformist, angst-ridden teen.
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Susanna is a sensitive, artistic type. Her problems include occasional hallucinations, an
attempted suicide, and basically feeling "sad". Susanna is encouraged by her parents
and doctor to check into Claymoore for a "rest", only to discover that she cannot leave
until she is declared well by the doctors at Claymoore. Thus Girl, Interrupted explores
issues of misdiagnosis, of society's inability to distinguish between the genuinely ill
youth as opposed to an adolescent enactment of apathy and disenfranchisement.
Susanna highlights the double standards of American society in asking why she is
considered "compulsively promiscuous" when a boy her age with an equal number of
partners would not. We are reminded that Susanna's assertions came at a time when
young people were applauded for their conformity, and even in a world of radical
change, women were still very much limited in their options. (In 1998 the film
Pleasantville also examined these issues.)
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In Girl, Interrupted mental illness is treated with sensitive care, but it is ultimately very
palatable. Some would argue that such a treatment is too simplistic and audience-friendly. However
I believe that the film-makers' intentions were not primarily to
critique the mental institutions of the 1960s, but to expose the narrow 1960s American
middle-class family values portrayed in Girl, Interrupted and their adverse effects upon
the characters and their predicaments. Upon meeting the other residents of Claymoore,
there are arguments to suggest that each of them is not a lost cause, and that perhaps
each girl comes from a middle-class family who has simply given up on them, or
worse, is the direct cause of their illness.
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The institution and its personnel are portrayed as misguided rather than evil, and
ultimately Dr Wick (Vanessa Redgrave) is supportive in Susanna's being released.
Nurse Valerie (Whoopi Goldberg) is the only one who recognises the difference
between a mentally ill adolescent and a self-indulgent spoiled brat.
References are made to Claymoore being a private institution and that the girls could
be much worse off.
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One of the strongest features of Girl, Interrupted is its characterisations. The diverse
personalities work to suggest that mental illness is a problem that is not simply defined.
Most intriguing is the charismatic, dominant and sexually ambiguous sociopath Lisa
(played by the, as always, impressive Angelina Jolie). The other members of the group
are the good-hearted yet insecure burn victim Polly (Elisabeth Moss), pathological liar
and Wizard of Oz fan Georgina (an engaging performance by Clea Duvall), sexually
abused and deeply disturbed Daisy (Brittany Murphy), as well as the anorexic self-mutilator
Janet (Angela Bettis), and lesbian Cynthia (Jillian Armenante). These
characters are crafted with affectability and humour that underlies the genuine insights
each provides. As Susanna is captivated by their stories, so is the viewer.
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Perhaps the film is most enjoyable on its 'buddy film' level. The film suggests that
mentally ill or not, each of these girls desires a connection. The film explores the bonds
that develop between the girls, connections than are both sustaining and destructive, as
they address their futures. The interesting intertexualisation of The Wizard of Oz
indicates the naïveté in the idea that there is "no place like home". Each of the girls
must search for happiness elsewhere (the use of the Petula Clark song "Downtown"
also emphasises this desire for a more opportune place).
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Interestingly, Susanna becomes the least sympathetic of the characters when positioned
next to the lesser-known girl residents. After all she is not in significant trouble, she's
just a girl interrupted. Perhaps Ryder's Susanna merely pales in comparison with Jolie's
(Golden Globe winning) Lisa. When Lisa is on screen, she is captivating, and this
makes it easy to understand how she is able to dominate both the keepers and patients
of Claymoore.
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The most disappointing aspect of the film is its resolution. Ultimately Girl, Interrupted
espouses a simple idea of redemption, which is functions as a 'happy ever after'
promise. Viewers who have been confronted with mental illness in their lives may be
disappointed, hoping for a more confronting or radical conclusion. It was not enough
for me to be reassured that Kaysen was healed, as I was much more interested in the
fates of the other characters. However it is standard that memoirs are essentially tales
of resilience and survival on the part of the narrator. Perhaps the lack of conclusive
information about the future of the other residents serves at least to suggest that the
path to redemption is not simple for all.
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Details
Girl, Interrupted, by Columbia Pictures 1999.
Running Time: 125 minutes.
Rated: MA (Australia).
Director: James Mangold.
Producers: Douglas Wick, Cathy Konrad.
Executive Producers: Carol Bodie and Winona Ryder.
Screenplay: James Mangold, Lisa Loomer, Anna Hamilton Phelan.
Based on the book by Susanna Kaysen.
Director of Photography: Jack Green.
Production Design: Richard Hoover.
Editor: Kevin Trent.
Costume Design: Arianne Phillips.
Music: Mychael Danna.
Cast: Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Clea Duvall, Brittany Murphy, Elisabeth Moss, Whoopi Goldberg, Vanessa Redgrave, Jared Leto.
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Citation reference for this article
MLA style:
Kate Douglas. "No Emerald City: 'Girl, Interrupted'." M/C Reviews 14 Feb. 2000.
[your date of access] <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/screen/girl.html>.
Chicago style:
Kate Douglas, "No Emerald City: 'Girl, Interrupted'," M/C Reviews 14 Feb. 2000,
<http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/screen/girl.html> ([your date of access]).
APA style:
Kate Douglas. (2000) No emerald city: 'Girl, interrupted'. M/C Reviews 14 Feb. 2000.
<http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/screen/girl.html> ([your date of access]).
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